BERKELEY -- A Bay Area teen who was set on fire while riding a public bus last month has returned to school after nearly a month in the hospital.

Eighteen-year-old Sasha Fleischman, who was born a male but does not identify as a man or woman, was asleep on an AC Transit bus on Nov. 4 when 16-year-old Richard Thomas set Fleischman's skirt on fire, causing second- and third-degree burns. Fleischman was released Wednesday from St. Francis Memorial Hospital.

Thomas, who told police he was homophobic, has been charged with a hate crime in the attack.

KTVU-TV reports that Fleischman arrived at Maybeck High School in Berkeley, just after a doctor's appointment.

Fleischman's mother, Debbie Crandall, told the station that returning to school had been on her child's mind for weeks.